The final phase of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) rules consultation has begun with the release of a second draft of the World Anti-Doping Code and first drafts of the international standards.

The consultation closes March 1, 2013 with the final versions of all documents to be released in November. During 2014, the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP), the set of rules that govern doping control in Canada, will be revised to remain compliant with the Code. National sport organizations will need to adopt the revised CADP, and as a result, athletes will be subject to these new rules when they come into effect in 2015.

• The limitation period for anti-doping rule violations based on Presence (Article 2.1) or Use (Article 2.2) has been increased to 10 years, and to 14 years for all others (such as Trafficking and Administration).

• The rule limiting participation in the next Olympic Games (known as the Osaka Rule) has been eliminated, as this rule is largely captured by a four-year period of ineligibility for prohibited methods, anabolic steroids, hormones and masking agents.

In January, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) will communicate the process by which athletes, national sport organizations and other stakeholders can provide comments to fuel Canada’s national response to this last draft. Until then, any comments can be emailed to the CCES at cadp2015@cces.ca or submitted directly to WADA at connect.wada-ama.org.